I will try to finish it on a high note: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakistan Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq will quit international cricket after the three-Test series in West Indies beginning later this month, the veteran batsman announced on Thursday.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) put Misbah in charge of the Test team for the three matches in West Indies on Wednesday with chairman Shaharyar Khan making it clear that it would be the last series for the player, who turns 43 next month.
"It will be my last series and I had conveyed this to the chairman (Pakistan Cricket Board) quite some time ago," Misbah told reporters at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
"I will try to finish it on a high note...There was no pressure on me," Pakistan's most successful Test captain said, adding he initially wanted to quit after the 2015 series against England in the United Arab Emirates.
Pakistan won 24 of its 53 Test matches under Misbah and, for the first time, occupied the top Test rankings last year before a dip in form set in.
Factbox on Misbah-ul-Haq:
* Born: May 28, 1974, Mianwali, Pakistan.
* Made his Test debut against New Zealand in 2001, scoring 28 and 10 in Auckland.
* He went on to play 72 Tests for Pakistan and scored 4951 runs with a 45-plus average, hitting 10 centuries and 36 fifties.
* He was appointed as Test captain ahead of two-Test series against South Africa at Abu Dhabi in 2010 after predecessor Salman Butt was suspended and later jailed on spot-fixing charges.
* He is also Pakistan's most successful Test captain, having led the side to 24 wins in 53 matches. Pakistan, for the first time, also occupied top Test rankings last year under his captaincy.
* The top order batsman also played 162 One-day internationals and 39 Twenty20 internationals before retiring from the limited-over formats after the 2015 ODI World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
* Scored an unbeaten 161 against India in 2007 at Kolkata to save the follow-on and draw the Test match.
* He was named one of Wisden's five Cricketers of the Year on Wednesday along with compatriot Younis Khan and English trio Ben Duckett, Chris Woakes and Toby Roland-Jones.
* He recorded a 56-ball hundred against Australia in 2014 -- then the joint fastest hundred in Tests, sharing the record with Viv Richards.
* He registered 10 Test series wins as a captain, which is the most by an Asian skipper. The next best among Pakistan captains is eight by Javed Miandad.
